Despite the Chicago Bulls resting Derrick Rose and the Miami Heat giving Chris Bosh the night off, a lot of people called last night’s matchups between the 1- and 2-seeds in the Eastern Conference a preview of the conference finals.

Of all five teams that the New Orleans fiasco sort of screwed over this week (Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, the Knicks and Boston), it's the Lakers who are probably hurting the most to get these talks kick-started and moving again.

It should be considered a borderline miracle if the Portland Trail Blazers hang onto their 8th-seed playoff spot in the West, especially with Marcus Camby's knee surgery basically cutting their winning formula in half.

Remember the guy in the "Quitness" video who accused LeBron James of waiting "until the last week of free agency" to make his Decision -- when the truth was LBJ actually ended his process the first day he could legally sign a contract.

We know everybody is trying to push this renewed Celtics/Knicks rivalry (or whatever Paul Pierce wants to call it), and we appreciate NBA TV giving us some 1985 Celtics/Knicks action during the workday yesterday.